The right to fair and equitable access to entertainment, whether that be music, theater, sports or the circus, is something all fans should enjoy. Too often, the resale market is used as a scapegoat for why fans are unable to get tickets during a general sale for hot events.

Legislation in Congress would dramatically enhance the transparency into ticketing for major events, which will benefit all consumers.

Millions of fans look to the secondary market and services like StubHub to find tickets. In many instances they find even better value than they would at the box office, with greater selection and often discounted prices.

Since 2007, when New York deregulated ticket resale, average prices have dropped substantially, quieting the skeptics who said opening up markets would only lead to higher prices.

The average price of a ticket sold through StubHub for events in New York City in 2006, before deregulation, was $113. That figure is $90 this year, a 20 percent reduction.

The increase in supply and price competition have created this reality. In contrast, ticket prices for the top 100 concerts rose nearly 10 percent from 2006 to 2008, according to Pollstar magazine.

The rapidly growing base of consumers who value secondary services should not be disregarded.
Rather than point to the secondary market as the problem, it\'s time to understand that secondary ticketing provides significant consumer benefit.

Many ticketing issues start with the way tickets are initially distributed, not how or if they are resold.
Any legislation aimed at helping consumers should focus on increasing the transparency of how tickets are initially sold rather than hinder secondary ticket services that consumers already find valuable.

Chris Tsakalakis
President, StubHub
San Francisco

First published in print: Monday, July 6, 2009